Almost 30,000 people are affected by redundancies every year
Published: Tuesday, Nov 26th 2024, 10:40
العودة إلى البث المباشر
Time and time again, the termination of leases on entire apartment buildings hit the headlines. These so-called "vacancy notices" are mainly concentrated in cities and vacation areas. According to the ZKB, however, this is generally less dramatic for those affected than is often assumed.
Between 2018 and 2022, a total of 10,900 multi-family homes throughout Switzerland will be emptied in order to extensively renovate them or build new ones. This affects almost 30,000 people every year, ZKB explained in a study on Tuesday.
12 percent of all vacancies (1270 apartment buildings) were vacated in the city of Zurich during this period. According to the study, the situation is less severe in Geneva, where only 20 buildings are vacated each year thanks to special tenant protection.
According to the bank, although "unpleasant" for the people affected, overall it is less dramatic than often assumed. This is because around two thirds of those affected find a new home "at least in the immediate vicinity". In other words: in the same municipality.
Nevertheless, vacancies are a "dilemma": many tenants cannot find a comparably affordable apartment nearby. In addition, returning is often not an option: after refurbishment and even more so after the construction of a new replacement building, long-term tenants in particular can no longer afford the significantly higher quality of living.
"Everyone has to live, but not everyone can afford the high quality of life," writes the ZKB. This is why it is so important to maintain and create affordable living space, especially in cities.
According to the ZKB, 80 percent of the leased buildings were 40 years old or more. Therefore, a certain need for renovation cannot be denied.
However, for around 10 percent of the buildings that were only built after 2000, "doubts about the appropriateness" of the terminations were at least justified. In the case of 16 percent of the vacant buildings, they were completely demolished in favor of new buildings.
©كيستون/إسدا
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